EP-132: Strong Q1 for Public Companies Could Reignite VC Interest in Southeast Asia
Across both private and public markets, profitability has become the central focus for companies, which is quite apparent in this quarter’s results.
Publicly listed Southeast Asian conglomerates delivered strong results in Q1 2025, underscoring their shift toward profitability. This comes as a bright spot for the region, where startup funding dropped 40% compared to the same period last year.
Major tech companies, including Grab, GoTo, and Bukalapak, all posted positive numbers this quarter, signaling a potential turning point for public markets, and could positively influence venture capital sentiment.
Across both private and public markets, profitability has become the central focus for companies, which is quite apparent in this quarter’s results.
Singapore-based Grab posted a profit of US$10 million in Q1 2025 over a loss of US$115 million in the first quarter last year. In fact, Grab’s 18% year-on-year revenue growth for the quarter ended March 31 was mainly a result of all business segments showing solid growth.
Grab narrowed its operating loss to US$21 million in Q1 2025, down from US$75 million a year ago, driven by strong revenue growth of 18% in deliveries and 15% in ride-hailing. This improvement came despite seasonal demand dips from Lunar New Year and Ramadan, thanks to tighter cost control and reduced share-based compensation.
To weather global uncertainty, Grab said it will heavily lean on AI and improve its technology capabilities to enhance pricing efficiency and strengthen its core offerings.
Indonesia-based GoTo is taking a similar approach, leveraging its homegrown AI tool, Sahabat AI, to boost operational efficiency, enhance customer experience, and build local tech talent, all aimed at driving stronger financial performance.
GoTo posted an adjusted EBITDA of US$23.6 million (Rp393 billion) for the first quarter of 2025, marking a return to profitability after recording a loss in the same period a year earlier.
The results reflect sharp gains across core business units as it narrowed its loss to US$17.25 million in Q1 2025 from US$26.25 million in the same quarter last year.
GoTo reaffirmed its full-year 2025 adjusted EBITDA guidance of US$ 84 to 96 million. CEO Patrick Walujo, who took over the company in mid-2023, has maintained a sharp focus on profitability. Under his leadership, GoTo has prioritized operational discipline, including a strategic exit from Vietnam in September 2024, where Gojek-branded services were shut down after failing to gain traction. All these efforts are part of a broader effort to streamline and double down on core markets.
Meanwhile, Indonesia’s e-commerce giant Bukalapak posted a net profit of US$6.7 million (Rp 112 billion) in the first quarter of 2025, against a net loss of US$57.3 million (Rp 955 billion) in Q4 2024.
Last quarter, the company streamlined its focus to four core areas — Mitra Bukalapak (its online-to-offline warung digitization unit), gaming, retail, and investment. The move reflects a disciplined shift toward economically viable businesses over pure growth pursuits.
And the first quarter results reflect their change in strategy.
Bukalapak reported a revenue of US$90 million in Q1 2025, up 25% year-over-year, with its gaming business contributing the bulk of that growth. The company’s financial turnaround stems from its strategic exit from physical goods to focus entirely on high-margin virtual products like mobile credits and streaming vouchers.
As public market players show clear paths to profitability, their success could ripple into the private markets, offering a much-needed boost to investor sentiment and startup funding across the region.
On that note, let’s dive into this week’s recap.
Buzzing Deals
➤ Singapore-headquartered specialized logistics solutions company Sin Chew Woodpaq has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from Heliconia Capital, a subsidiary of Temasek. The investment will allow Sin Chew to extend its services in Malaysia and Thailand as well as work on engineering-led logistics offerings for high-tech industries. Founded in 1972, Sin Chew provides logistics solutions to companies in the semiconductor, aerospace, and advanced manufacturing sectors.
➤ Vietnam-based chain of retail pharmacy stores Long Chau has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Malaysian PE firm Creador. This is Long Chau’s first-ever institutional funding while Creador has made two investments in Vietnam till now. The current funding earns Creador a minority 13% stake in Long Chau. The company will utilize the funding to expand its reach within the country. Long Chau is the sole profit-making pharmacy chain in the country and currently operates more than 2,000 pharmacies and over 140 vaccination centers in Vietnam.
➤ Japanese healthtech company Craif Inc has received US$22 million in a Series C round of funding led by existing backer X&KSK, with participation from Colorado-based Unreasonable Syndicate, diagnostic kit maker TAUNS Laboratories, Daiwa House Industry, and Aozora Bank Group. The capital will go toward R&D efforts and the expansion of its testing services in Japan, while also accelerating its US market strategy. Craif is a molecular diagnostics company that leverages its AI-driven urinary microRNA (miRNA) platform for early detection of cancer including pancreatic and lung cancers that are not easily detected.
➤ Singapore-based cybersecurity startup SquareX has raised US$20 million in Series A round of funding led by SYN Ventures, with participation from Peak XV Partners. The fresh capital infusion will allow the company to make further development of its BDR (browser detection and response) platform and fast-pace enterprise adoption, and improve product capabilities to fight new browser-based threats. SquareX helps businesses mitigate cyber threats by offering them a browser extension that turns any browser into a secure environment, removing the need for standalone enterprise browsers.
➤ Indonesian coffee chain Flash Coffee has secured US$3 million in a funding round anchored by TA Ventures, with participation from New York-based VC firm White Star Capital. The company claims to make a profit from each coffee outlet. The funding will be used to expand across the country and increase its outlets to 70 as it plans to enter two new cities soon by the end of this year. Launched in 2020, Flash Coffee is a tech-enabled coffee chain that serves premium coffee at affordable prices in Indonesia.
What Stood Out This Week
➤ Singapore-headquartered Everstone Capital is soon expected to make the first close of its fifth flagship private equity fund at US$300-400 million. The PE fund that mainly invests in India and Southeast Asia will make a final close of US$800 million to US$1 billion by 2026. Co-founded by Atul Kapur and Samir Sain, the new fund will target companies in the mid-market category. The PE firm plans to do 8-10 deals of around US$100 million each. Everstone Group has US$7 billion of total assets under management and has returned around US$2 billion to its backers.
➤ Japanese brand enablement company AnyMind has acquired Vibula, a Vietnamese social and live commerce company. While AnyMind didn’t disclose the deal value, this is its first acquisition in Vietnam. This strategic acquisition will allow AnyMind to expand operations across other regions. AnyMind Group will leverage Vibula's live commerce expertise to strengthen its human-AI hybrid model. Vibula, on the other hand, will benefit from AnyMind Group’s GenAI e-commerce platform, AnyLive, to enable its customers to turn live shopping into a 24/7 sales channel.
➤ Singapore-headquartered publicly listed group of hotels Amara Holdings has received a privatization offer at a valuation of around US$400 million from a set of new investors. The consortium includes affiliates of Singapore property veterans Hwa Hong and Wing Tai Holdings, plus the Teo family, who founded Amara. This comes a few years after Amara’s delisting efforts failed to materialize. The US$400-million valuation is at a 27% premium price based on its share price last week.
➤ Singapore-based Cocoon Capital has made the first close of its third fund at US$30 million. The total target corpus of Cocoon Capital III is US$50 million, from which it will back Southeast Asian B2B and deep-tech companies looking to raise pre-seed and seed money. Cocoon Capital will invest in 20 companies over the period of five years and plans to allocate about 55% of the funds for follow-on rounds leading up to Series A.
➤ Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (HKEX) posted a profit of US$526 million in Q1 2025, up 37% from the previous year. This is the bourse’s best quarterly performance till now. A total of 17 companies listed on HKEX in the first quarter ended March 31, 2025, raising about US$2.41 billion collectively, which is nearly four times that of the same period last year. HKEX enjoys its unique position as mainland Chinese companies consider Hong Kong as the primary offshore destination to raise capital.
And that’s the wrap for this edition of #ICYMI. Every week, we recap the latest developments in the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem, along with a commentary on what catches our eye.